Heartland Grey Tanks

[wdk450]

Does anybody know the type of plastic Heartland has used over the years on it's grey water tanks? I have to try to repair my kitchen (dishwater) tank which is installed above my axles, so replacement isn't a good option. Right now I am looking at soldering iron-type of plastic welder kits, but they require that you know the type of plastic involved so that you use the right type of welding rod.

Right now I am doing dishes in a couple of short wide plastic trash containers I found at Walmart, and carrying the dishwater to the toilet.

 

[Gary521]

Some welding kits come with a variety of welding rods for different plastics. Just because a tank is black doesn't necessarily mean that its ABS. Good luck.

 

[Flick]

Does anybody know the type of plastic Heartland has used over the years on it's grey water tanks? I have to try to repair my kitchen (dishwater) tank which is installed above my axles, so replacement isn't a good option. Right now I am looking at soldering iron-type of plastic welder kits, but they require that you know the type of plastic involved so that you use the right type of welding rod.

Right now I am doing dishes in a couple of short wide plastic trash containers I found at Walmart, and carrying the dishwater to the toilet.

What a bummer Bill. Doesn’t look like anyone knows your answer. If I needed that information, I’d probably call Heartland and see who the tank maker was. I’d then call that company to see if they know the tank material makeup. Good luck.

 

[danemayer]

Bill,

I don't know the material, but I did repair 3 relatively small holes in my Gray #1 tank 9 years ago. The tank heating pad burned the holes - maybe 1/4" or so. I filled them with J.B. Weld epoxy and sprayed on 3 coats of rubber. I think I may have used Rustoleum Rubberized Undercoating, but it's possible it might have been Flex-Seal. I just can't remember. In any case, it's held up fine for 9 years.

 

[JohnDar]

Probably a Polyethylene, although at one time I thought they used ABS. If you can find it, the material code should be shown on the tank itself.


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[wdk450]

I found a website by a tank manufacturer in the Elkhart area that stated that their tanks are MDPE (Medium Density Polyethylene) and spin molded. Another source I came across said that the tanks are marked with a recycling triangle with a number in the triangle indicating the exact type of plastic. I don't know if I will be able to find that marking, but will look for it.

BTW, I saw a "How Its Made" TV episode about making spin molded plastic tanks and it was eye opening. A special large molding machinery slowly spins the mold assembly at a moderate speed on 2 axis while the plastic cools and sets.

 

[JohnDar]

Recycling codes for plastics: https://www.scrantonproducts.com/different-types-of-plastics-and-the-spi-codes/

 

[Gary521]

This may not be possible but this is one method for determining plastic types. If you can get a small piece of the tank ( maybe by scraping ) and burn it, polyethylene smells like paraffin wax.

- - - Updated - - -

 

[JohnDar]

And ABS smells nasty.


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[wdk450]

Thanks Gary and everyone for the education. Life IS continual learning.

I've moved up to the San Diego mountains for 3 weeks, 33 degrees overnight here last night, so I'll start this repair sometime in the near future. I still have my 3 afternoons a week in San Diego 45 miles away with my 8 month post heart transplant daughter. All is pretty good with her, the Med center does heart cath procedures monthly to retrieve a bit of heart tissue for rejection analysis. So far she has been scoring a 0 on the rejection tests.

My next 2 scheduled visits fall with Thanksgiving between, so I will probably be making the California Governor happy and having a bachelor Thanksgiving here.

We are unfortunately in a year/era(?) that we will all remember the rest of our lives, just as the World Wars, financial depressions, Kennedy brothers and MLK assassinations, are markers in our lives. In spite of this worldwide horrific epidemic that has scarred people's lives ALL AROUND THE WORLD, remember God's continuing love and blessings on all of us in so many other ways, on our national day of THANKSGIVING.

Love and peace to you all.

 

[Flick]

Thanks Gary and everyone for the education. Life IS continual learning.

I've moved up to the San Diego mountains for 3 weeks, 33 degrees overnight here last night, so I'll start this repair sometime in the near future. I still have my 3 afternoons a week in San Diego 45 miles away with my 8 month post heart transplant daughter. All is pretty good with her, the Med center does heart cath procedures monthly to retrieve a bit of heart tissue for rejection analysis. So far she has been scoring a 0 on the rejection tests.

My next 2 scheduled visits fall with Thanksgiving between, so I will probably be making the California Governor happy and having a bachelor Thanksgiving here.

We are unfortunately in a year/era(?) that we will all remember the rest of our lives, just as the World Wars, financial depressions, Kennedy brothers and MLK assassinations, are markers in our lives. In spite of this worldwide horrific epidemic that has scarred people's lives ALL AROUND THE WORLD, remember God's continuing love and blessings on all of us in so many other ways, on our national day of THANKSGIVING.

Love and peace to you all.

Bill, may God bless your family and especially your daughter during this Thanksgiving and coming holiday season. I know everything will continue to go well.

 

[SLO]

I have a 2016 Bighorn that had a kitchen/laundry grey tank leak. I determined the grey tank material was HDPE.